| Thorny pea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In the Mount Annan Botanic Garden | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Genus: | Pedleya |
| Species: | P. acanthoclada |
| Binomial name | |
| Pedleya acanthoclada | |
Pedleya acanthoclada, commonly known as thorny pea, [2] is the only species of flowering plant in the genus Pedleya of the family Fabaceae. It is a small shrub with pink or purplish flowers, and leaves in groups of three.
Pedleya acanthoclada is a small shrub about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) high with stiff, smooth branches bearing thorns. The leaves are in groups of three and smooth, the middle leaf longer than lateral leaves, the apex rounded, the stipules about 1 mm (0.039 in) long and the petiole 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) long. The pink to purple flowers are about 8 mm (0.31 in) long, in 1 or 2 pairs or clusters near the end of branches on a pedicel about 1 mm (0.039 in) long. Flowering occurs in summer and the fruit is a pod about 50 mm (2.0 in) long made up of 2-7 segments, each segment about 9–12 mm (0.35–0.47 in) long. [2] [3]
Pedleya acanthoclada was first formally described in 1861 by Ferdinand von Mueller, who gave it the name Desmodium acanthocladum in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae , from specimens collected near the Clarence River by Hermann Beckler. [4] [5] In 2018, Hiroyoshi Ohashi and Kazuaki Ohashi transferred the species to Pedleya in the Journal of Japanese Botany . [3] [6] The genus name honours Leslie Pedley, [3] (1930–2018), who was an Australian botanist who specialised in the genus Acacia . [7] The specific epithet (acanthoclada) means "spiny shoot". [8]
Thorny pea is found growing mostly near rivers in the Lismore and Grafton regions of New South Wales. [2]
This species of pea (as Desmodium acanthocladum) is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 . The main threats to the species include habitat fragmentation, damage cause by roadworks, trampling by livestock and weed infestation. [9] [10]
Acacia acanthoclada, commonly known as harrow wattle, is a low, divaricate, highly branched and spinescent shrub that is endemic to Australia.
Hovea acanthoclada, commonly known as thorny hovea, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is an upright, prickly shrub with small dark green leaves and purple-blue pea flowers in winter and spring. It is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.
Prostanthera phylicifolia, commonly known as spiked mint-bush, is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is an erect shrub with four-ridged branches, narrow egg-shaped to oval leaves and white or pale lilac-coloured flowers with purple and yellow spots.
Darwinia micropetala, commonly known as small darwinia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a small, erect shrub with linear leaves, and heads of white to pink flowers.
Prostanthera decussata, commonly known as dense mintbush, species of flowering plant that is endemic south-eastern Australia. It is a dense, compact, strongly aromatic shrub with egg-shaped leaves and mauve to violet flowers with yellow streaks, arranged in leaf axils near the ends of branchlets.
Cassinia compacta is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with densely hairy stems, linear leaves and heads of yellow flowers arranged in dense corymbs.
Cassinia subtropica, commonly known as bushy rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae and is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It is shrub with woolly-hairy stems, lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves and panicles of flower heads.
Prostanthera staurophylla, commonly known as Tenterfield mint-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to a small area on the New England Tableland of New South Wales. It is an erect to spreading, strongly aromatic shrub with hairy branches, deeply lobed leaves and bluish-mauve flowers with darker markings.
Prostanthera prostantheroides is a plant in the family Lamiaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with heart-shaped to round leaves and usually white flowers with purple spots inside the petal tube.
Kennedia lateritia, commonly known as Augusta kennedia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a woody climber with twining stems, trifoliate leaves and orange-red and yellow flowers arranged in groups of up to twenty-four.
Bossiaea decumbens is a spreading, prostrate shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), and is endemic to Victoria. It has alternate, variable shaped leaves and yellow pea flowers with red splotches from spring to late summer.
Coatesia is a genus of plant containing the single species Coatesia paniculata, commonly known as axe-breaker or capivi, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small, evergreen tree with simple, elliptical to egg-shaped leaves, panicles of white flowers on the ends of branchlets or in leaf axils and fused follicles with one black seed in each follicle.
Dinosperma is a genus of plant containing the single species Dinosperma erythrococcum, commonly known as tingletongue, clubwood or nutmeg, and is endemic to north-eastern Australia. It is a tree usually with trifoliate leaves arranged in opposite pairs, the leaflets lance-shaped to oblong, and panicles of small white flowers, later bright orange to red, slightly fleshy follicles containing shiny, bluish black seeds.
Gompholobium gompholobioides is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with pinnate leaves and uniformly yellow, pea-like flowers.
Pomaderris forrestiana is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to south-western Australia. It is a low shrub with elliptic leaves, and small clusters of woolly-hairy flowers.
Cryptandra longistaminea is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a shrub with many branches, egg-shaped or elliptic to linear leaves, and clusters of white, tube-shaped flowers.
Cryptandra magniflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to Victoria (Australia). It is a shrub with cylindrical leaves, and clusters of white, tube-shaped flowers.
Pimelea sanguinea is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae and is endemic to northern Australia. It is a semi-prostrate herb with narrowly egg-shaped to almost linear leaves, and heads of red flowers surrounded by green or reddish, and deep reddish-purple involucral bracts.
Ricinocarpos bowmanii, commonly known as western wedding bush or Bowman jasmine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is usually a monoecious shrub with linear to oblong leaves and three to six male flowers around each female flower.
Goodia medicaginea, commonly known as western golden tip, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a shrub with trifoliate leaves, the leaflets narrowly egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, and mostly yellow, pea-like flowers with red to purplish-black or brown markings.
